Digital Degree Project to curb fake degree racket: Javadekar

Chandigarh: In an effort to curb the fake degree racket, the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (HRD) has initiated a digital degree project under which enrolment of students would be made on Aadhaar Card numbers and the record of degrees issued could be maintained by the UGC, HRD and other authorities.

The Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar disclosed adding that ministry has already introduced the Digital Degree Project to streamline issuance of the documents and maintaining their data base with the authorities concerned.

To improve quality of education and to bring more digitalization in education system, the ministry was taking new initiatives including Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM), Massive open online course (MOOC) and some others.

The minister made the revelation with 15 member delegation of All India Federation of Self Financing Colleges Association (AIFSFTI) led by its Chief Patron, R S Munirathinam and President, Dr Anshu Kataria, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

With the implementation of digital degree project, Javadekar added that the full record of the curriculum including nomenclature of the course, duration, marks, details of the students would be made accessible to the concerned.

The delegation also took up the problems being faced by small self financing colleges with the minister and sought immediate intervention of the HRD Minister in the regulatory mechanism.

The delegation members demanded a level playing field for institutions including Private Universities, Deemed Universities and Self-Financed Colleges besides expressing their concern over the fake degrees racket in the country.

Munirathinam discussed the faculty ratio with the minister saying that KAW Committee has recommended the ratio as 1:25, where in the AICTE’s prescribed ratio is 1:15.He requested the minister to consider the faculty ration recommended by the KAW committee.